1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection authentication system, a terminal apparatus, a connection authentication server, a connection authentication method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, rapid digitization of information has been progressed and information apparatuses that handle digital information have been rapidly developed to general homes, and photos taken by digital cameras or television programs recorded in a form of digital information have been stored and managed in personal computers (hereinafter, simply referred to as PC). However, for example, when video images that are taken by a digital video camera are viewed in a house of a relative, in order to reproduce video images that are stored in a hard disk of a PC disposed in his or her own house by using a TV disposed in the house of the relative, apparatus registration work needs to be performed to connect the corresponding apparatuses.
For example, when each apparatus acquires a domain that constitutes a URL needed to have access to each apparatus from a dynamic domain name system (DDNS) and a registration counterpart apparatus knows an apparatus registration URL generating tool, if each apparatus transmits necessary information, such as a model number, a serial number, and a utilized port (an apparatus registration pass is fixed), to the counterpart apparatus, each apparatus can generate a URL that is used when each apparatus connects the counterpart apparatus to execute a registration process in the counterpart apparatus. Accordingly, a user sends an E-mail or a memo written in paper to the counterpart apparatus so as to transmit the necessary information thereto and inputs information using a URL of the corresponding apparatus, thereby performing apparatus registration work (For example, JP-A No. 2006-171989 and JP-A No. 2005-94252).
However, during the apparatus registration work, a work load of the user may be large and the corresponding work may be complicated for individual users. In addition, it may be difficult to transmit an arbitrary URL, and a predetermined URL generating tool is needed. If the user directly transmits a URL, the number of characters increases, which results in making the work of the user further complicated.
In view of the above issues, a method has been suggested in which an Internet server is disposed, each apparatus typically notifies the Internet server of current positional information, and the Internet server manages a list of buddies for each user account of each apparatus and executes an apparatus registration process using the list of buddies (for example, JP-A No. 2006-262111 and JP-A No. 2006-254137).
In the above method, if the user requests another account to permit the user to add another account to the list of buddies, another account is temporarily registered in the list of buddies, and when a temporarily registered counterpart user is online, the counterpart user executes a registration permission or non-permission process. Based on the process result, the Internet server executes a process that changes the temporary registration to the regular registration or deletes information of the temporary registration.